NASA cancels launch of moon rocket again - and is now postponing it indefinitely

Created: 09/05/2022 04:47

By: Bettina Menzel, Jennifer Lanzinger

USA, Kennedy Space Center on September 3: The flame on the far right indicates that the refueling of the heavy lift rocket had begun before the launch was aborted.

© Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel via ZUMA Press/dpa +++ dpa picture radio +++

Even a first attempt had to be canceled at the last second on Monday.

NASA also had technical problems with its Artemis rocket on Saturday.

There was no start again.

• Launch

  of the Artemis 1 moon rocket

  aborted

  again : Nasa is struggling with problems.

• Another

  tank leak discovered at Artemis 1

  : refueling of the moon rocket initially interrupted.

• Nasa is postponing the

  next launch attempt

  indefinitely: These are the possible time windows.

• This ticker about the

  launch of NASA's Artemis 1 moon rocket

  is constantly updated.

Update from September 4, 8:08 a.m .:

The US space agency Nasa has postponed the start of its Artemis 1 moon mission indefinitely.

A second launch attempt planned for Saturday was canceled at short notice due to a fuel leak.

The launch window that lasted until Tuesday was "no longer on the table," said Nasa Manager Jim Free a little later.

He did not name a new date.

The leak must first be better understood, Free wrote on Twitter after the launch attempt was aborted.

He is still proud of his team.

"Perseverance is woven into NASA's culture," the NASA executive continued, affirming that they would try again.

The maiden flight of the new US moon rocket was canceled on Monday shortly before the planned start in Cape Canaveral in the US state of Florida - also because of a fuel leak.

In addition, a sensor had indicated that one of the rocket's engines had overheated.

Nasa is postponing the next launch attempt indefinitely: These are the possible time windows

The next launch windows are September 19th through October 4th and October 17th through October 31st.

According to NASA manager Bill Nelson, the Artemis launch may not take place until the second half of October, since the Cape Canaveral spaceport will be needed for a trip to the International Space Station (ISS) in early October.

At the press conference on Saturday evening, German time, it was said that it was not yet possible to say whether another start attempt would be made in the next (September 19th to October 4th) or the next but one possible time window (October 17th to October 31st).

Regarding the recent fuel leak, NASA said that numerous attempts to fix the problem were initially unsuccessful.

Astronaut Victor Glover called the postponement of the launch "the right decision."

USA, Cape Canaveral: NASA's Artemis rocket with the Orion capsule on board moves to launch pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center on Saturday.

© Ben Smegelsky/Nasa/dpa +++ dpa picture radio +++

Launch leader aborts launch attempt of unmanned moon mission Artemis 1

Update from September 3, 5:36 p.m .:

The US space agency Nasa has also canceled the second attempt to launch an unmanned moon mission.

Artemis I launch director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson canceled the attempt a few hours before the scheduled launch on Saturday, a spokesman said.

NASA had previously confirmed a leak in a fuel hose.

Several attempts to solve this problem had failed.

The start was planned in a two-hour time window from 8:17 p.m. German time.

Technical problems again: NASA moon rocket Artemis can probably not start again today

Update from September 3, 5:13 p.m .:

The US space agency Nasa is again struggling with problems.

And that just a few hours before the planned launch of their rocket to the moon.

There is a leak.

The problem has not yet been resolved, NASA wrote on Twitter on Saturday afternoon.

A team of experts recommended aborting the launch, according to a Nasa live stream.

However, a decision has not yet been made.

The start had to be canceled last Monday due to technical problems.

However, one is now optimistic that the causes have been remedied, according to Nasa's "Artemis" blog.

Update from September 3, 3:50 p.m.:

Nasa seems to have gotten the problems with the refueling of the Artemis 1 moon rocket under control.

"Teams have completed the pressurization of the line and resumed the supply of liquid hydrogen to the tank," it said on Twitter on Saturday afternoon German time.

The filling of the tanks with liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen had previously been partially interrupted.

If the start on Saturday cannot take place again, it could be postponed to Monday or Tuesday.

After that, there will only be a new start option from September 19th.

Nasa technicians give the all-clear: refueling resumed on Saturday

Update from September 3, 2:20 p.m.:

On Saturday, NASA experts again discovered a leak during the refueling process of the Artemis 1 rocket.

But within a short time the problem was apparently solved.

The supply of liquid hydrogen to the core stage has been resumed, the US space agency NASA said on Saturday morning at 8:09 a.m. local time (2:09 p.m. German time).

The tanks with liquid oxygen were 40 percent full, it said at 2:19 p.m. German time.

Liquid hydrogen is first filled up manually.

To resolve the problem, a quick-disconnect coupler in the engine section was warmed up, "in which a hydrogen leak was discovered in the cavity between the ground and flight-side plates of the quick coupler."

The heating was done to try to properly reseal the affected area, NASA said Saturday.

Another fuel leak discovered at Artemis 1: the moon rocket's refueling process was initially interrupted

Update from September 3, 2:04 p.m .:

The US space agency NASA is planning the first moon mission in 50 years with the launch of the unmanned Artemis 1 rocket.

But things got off to a rocky start: The launch of the rocket was canceled on Monday (August 29) due to technical problems and postponed to Saturday – partly because of a leak in the tank.

Refueling continued to cause problems on Saturday.

NASA announced on Saturday afternoon (German time) on Twitter that refueling had been interrupted.

A leak was discovered.

"Teams are resolving the issue by warming up the area," the message said.

As of Monday, it was said that the cause of the leak had been found and fixed, according to launch manager Charlie Blackwell-Thompson.

However, the head of the Artemis mission, Mike Sarafin, already dampened expectations on Monday.

"There's no guarantee we'll take off on Saturday, but we'll try," he said.

The US space agency describes the major goal of the Artemis program as the “next big step”: human exploration of Mars.

Preparing for the second attempt to launch the Artemis 1 rocket to the moon

Update from September 3, 12:25 p.m .:

Preparations for the Artemis 1 rocket launch planned for Saturday at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral are in full swing.

"The teams are preparing for the launch of the Artemis 1 mission to the moon," tweeted the US space agency NASA on Saturday afternoon German time.

The rocket is currently being refueled, which can now be followed live.

The refueling process with hydrogen is also particularly exciting because there were problems with a tank leak during the last attempt to start Artemis 1 on Monday.

50 years after the last moon mission: NASA broadcasts the planned Artemis rocket launch live

Update from September 3rd, 10.45 a.m .:

50 years ago people last stepped on the moon – on Saturday a rocket is to start again to the moon – but initially an unmanned test flight.

The US space agency NASA announced on Twitter on Saturday that it would broadcast the planned Artemis rocket launch live on various platforms.

Accordingly, users can follow the unmanned moon mission on YouTube, Twitch or Dailymotion.

The two-hour time window for a possible Artemis launch begins at 2:17 p.m. (8:17 p.m. German time).

"So that Artemis 1 can take off tomorrow, a lot has to work," NASA Vice Director Jim Free wrote on Twitter on Saturday night (local time) about the planned start of the moon mission.

“Our team is prepared if the hardware and the weather cooperate.

There's no guarantee we'll start, but that won't stop us from trying."

Weather forecast for the Artemis rocket launch window is now "60 to 80 percent" favorable

Update from September 3rd, 8.50 a.m .:

Jim Free, Vice Director of the US space agency NASA, announced on the night from Friday to Saturday (local time) that the weather forecast for the Artemis rocket launch on Saturday had improved.

According to this, the chances of favorable weather conditions within the two-hour time window for the start would be 60 to 80 percent.

From 2:17 p.m. local time (8:17 p.m. German time) on Saturday, the time window for the launch of the unmanned SLS rocket and its Orion capsule will open.

The capsule is to orbit the moon at a distance of around one hundred kilometers, with the mission taking a total of several weeks.

The follow-up mission Artemis 2 should bring astronauts into a lunar orbit, with Artemis 3 a moon landing should succeed at the earliest in 2025.

With the Artemis program, NASA not only wants to go back to the moon in the long term, but is also planning manned missions to Mars.

NASA's unmanned moon mission: Up to 400,000 spectators expected

Update from September 3, 8:08 a.m .:

The US space agency NASA had to postpone the start of the unmanned moon mission Artemis 1 to Saturday.

At the second attempt, the authorities expect up to 400,000 onlookers.

Those responsible for the Brevard district, where the Kennedy Space Center is located in the state of Florida in the USA, had expected between 100,000 and 200,000 spectators at the first launch date on Monday, which was ultimately canceled.

That number is expected to double on Saturday, said county communications director Don Walker.

However, such an estimate is difficult in advance.

For comparison: 220,000 spectators watched the first manned launch of a SpaceX rocket live on site in 2020 in the midst of the corona pandemic.

Spectators sit in a bleacher near the Saturn V Visitor Center in Cape Canaveral during the first launch attempt of NASA's Artemis rocket at Kennedy Space Center Monday (stock image, August 29).

© Brynn Anderson/AP/dpa +++ dpa picture radio +++

The US space agency NASA has to abort the launch of the unmanned moon mission Artemis 1 at short notice

First report:

Cape Canaveral/USA – After the failed first attempt, the US space agency NASA wants to make a new attempt to launch its new moon rocket on Saturday, September 3, 2022.

A time window of almost two hours is open for the mission, as confirmed by the head of the unmanned Artemis 1 mission, Mike Sarafin.

The weather is now being watched with excitement.

A first attempt last Monday had to be canceled at the last minute due to technical problems, thousands of onlookers had gathered on site.

Specifically, the time window for the Artemis mission should open on Saturday at 2:17 p.m. local time, NASA fans from Germany can look forward to impressive pictures from 8:17 p.m.

On Monday, NASA had to call off the first test flight of the SLS rocket shortly before launch due to technical problems.

Thousands of onlookers had gathered on site to watch the launch of NASA's new giant rocket.

Among them was US Vice President Kamala Harris at the scene.

After technical problems: New NASA moon rocket Artemis is scheduled to start on Saturday

First, the threat of lightning and a leak caused delays in refueling the rocket.

Temperature problems in one of the four main engines then led to the start being aborted for a short time.

The rocket engines, which are fueled with ice-cold liquid water and oxygen, have to be cooled down considerably before they can be launched.

On Monday, however, one engine had not reached the required temperature.

NASA technicians now assume that the temperature was probably correct after all and that the problem is related to a defective sensor.

The behavior of the sensor does not match the "physics of the situation," said SLS program manager John Honeycutt.

The NASA technicians now want to collect data with other instruments during the next launch attempt on Saturday to ensure that the engine is properly cooled.

In addition, the cooling of the engines should begin earlier in the starting process.

Until then, the weather report will be followed with excitement, which predicts a 60 percent risk of unfavorable weather conditions such as rain or thunderstorms for Saturday.

The responsible meteorologist Mark Burger was nevertheless "optimistic".

He sees a "pretty good chance" of being able to start on Saturday.

NASA wants to send rockets to the moon again - in the future also astronauts on board

NASA has set itself an ambitious goal: 50 years after the last moon landing, they want to send another rocket to the moon.

The task of the 42-day Artemis 1 mission is to test the most powerful launch vehicle to date and the Orion capsule at the top under real conditions.

The follow-up mission Artemis 2 is to bring astronauts into a lunar orbit, with Artemis 3 a moon landing should succeed at the earliest in 2025.

The long-term goal is a manned mission to Mars.